Apparatus and process for oxidizing phosphorus.



l. H-E CHENBLEIKNER. APPARATUS AND PROCESS FOR OXIDIZING PHOSPHORUS.

APPLICATION FILED Movie. 1914.

1, 16?,755. Immwq Jan. 1 1, 1916.

wit meow/o: vwe wioz INGENUIN HEGHENBLEIKNER, 01? CHARLOTTE, NORTHCAROLINA.

APPARATUS AND PROCESS roe OXIDIZING PHOSPHORUS.

' Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented J an. ill, 1916,

Application filed November 6, 1914. Serial No. 870,625.

1 '0 all whom it may cbnjcem lie it known that'I, INcuNUrN HECHEN-BLEIKNER, a subject of the Emperor of Austria-Hungary, residing atCharlotte, in the county of Mecklenburg and State of North Carolina,have invented new and useful Improvements in Apparatus and Processes for()Xidizing Phosphorus, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to the manufacture of phosphorus pentoxid anditis particularly applicable in the production of phosphorus fromphosphatic material such as phosphate rock. In the production ofphosphorus from such a phosphatic material, the phosphatic material.together witha suitable flux and a carbonaceous material is heated to avery high temperature in an electric furnace, the effect being to driveoff oxidizable gases including phosphorus and the phosphorus gas isafterward oxidized to phosphorus pentoxid. These gases which pass fromthe furnace have a very high temperature and are also capable ofdeveloping a further amount of heat by their oxidation.

My invention resides in the novel process and also in the novelapparatus to be de-.

scribed hereinafter.

One of the objects of my invention is to provide a process and apparatuswhich will operate to utilize the heat contained in these gases ordeveloped by their oxidation so as to preheat a charge or portion of thecharge before it is fed into the furnace.

A further object of the invention is to provide a process and apparatuswhich will operate to insure a thorough heating of all parts of thecharge before it passes into the furnace.

A further object of the invention is to provide a process andapparatuswhich will insure a thorough oxidation of the oxidizable gases as theypass through the charge.

Further objects of the invention Wlll appear hereinafter.

The invention consists in those features of pended claims.

In the drawings the figure is a side elevation in partial sectionthrough the preprovided with an up-take 4: which is pref erably in theform of an elbow in order to facilltate the practising of my invention.

The furnace is supplied with a phosphate rock preferably in the form ofcalcium phosphate, a suitable flux such as silica, and a carbonaceousmaterial such ascarbon, charcoal or coke. The reaction which takes placein the furnace is substantially as follows From an inspection of thisformula, it is apparent that oxidizable gases pass out of the furnace inthe form of carbon monoxid and phosphorus. Furthermore, these gases areat a very high temperature.

According to my process and apparatus, I employ the sensible heat andthe calorific power of these gases to raise the temperature of theincoming charge which is to be introduced into the furnace, and Ipreferably exclude from the charge which is heated by the gases, thecarbonaceous material so as to prevent its combustion and to insure itsbeing delivered into the furnace.

According to my invention I prefer to provide means for holding a chargeof material exclusive of the carbonaceous material and arranged so as topass the gases through the mass of this charge, and also arranged sothat the charge progresses slowly toward the furnace ina continuousstream. I pass the gases in a current through this charge and agitatethe charge so as to effect a thorough heating thereof.

The holder for the charge referred to is preferably in the form of aduct 9 which is preferably slightly inclined and which cons the elbow,and through these air or oxygen the tubular .duct-in position.

The elbow 3 is preferretractory of suitable luclnl. ably similarlyconstructed out of |ire-l.)'rick and metal.

I provide means for feeding the phosphatie material and the flux or.silicious ma upwardly through the elbow and"through the duct. This ispreferably accomplished by rotating the duct onits longitudinal axis.For this purpose the weight of the duct is preferably taken on asuitable frame 12. the upper part of said frame being provided withrollers 10 receiving rings 10 on the exterior of the duct; These rollersarc prefcrably [lunged and form a cradle to hold The duct is alsoprovided with an encircling gear wheel ll with. which meshes a pinion11, said pinion being driven by any suitable gearing 11". The interiorof the duct is preferably provided with longitudinal ribs 13 formed inthe lire-brick.v The charge being in a finely divided state as this ductrotates, the material is being constantly carried up on theascemlingside of the duct and falls back toward the bottom. In this way a verythorough mixture of the cl arge ta ltcs place and a thorough heating bythe gases pass ing through the duct. Such an arrangement as this willoperate to extract a large portion of the sensible heat of these gases,but I prefer also to utilize the'calorific power of the gases so 'as to.benefit by. the heat developed and also burn the phosphorus toitspentoxid (P 0 For this purpose. I prefer to provide inlet openings 7which are preferably in the upper side of passes inwardly: the inwarddraft at this point is caused bythe velocity of the gases passingoutwardly from the elbow. The tan-bonaceous material is preferably fedinto the furnace through the upper side of the .elbow through the mediumof a suitable charging hopper 6. In other words, I provide means forseparately or independently feeding the carbonaceous material to thefurnace in such a way that it is not passed through the duct 9. Althoughthe charge in the duct is pref: erably in a finely divided state, 'it ispref crably as free from dust as possible, but in order-to remove allthe dust possible after the gases pass from the duct, I prefer toprovide a dust collector of any suitable type, such as indicated at 15.The dust collector illustrated is of a simple upright cylindrical form.the middle of the (lust chamber within the same. being provided with abalile wall 17 which directs'the current of gases downwardly so thatthey pass under the loweredge of the ballle plate and upwardly on theopposite side. The momentum of the dust in the downwardly directedcurrent causes the dustto collect at the bottom of the chamber. Theupper side of the dustcolleetor can be provided with a suitable outletpipe 19 which may connect with a suitable exhaust fan 20 which deliversthe exhaust gases through a suitable pipe 21.

' It is understood that I may employ any suitable type of dustcollectors. the one illustrated being simply by way of example.

As the gases pass through the duct. they mix with the oxygen or airwhich is admitted by the air inlets 7 so that the carbon ,monoxid' andthe phosphorus in the gases become oxidized according to the followingform u l asaid mass as it progresses toward the fur mice to pro-heat thesame, and separately feeding the carbonaceous material into the furnacef2. The process of'manufacturing phos- 'phoric acid which consists inheating together in a furnace phosphatic material, a silicious flux anda carbonaceous material, feeding and conducting a stream of thephosphatic material and the. flux toward the furnace. passing the gasesfrom the furnace through said strean'i as it progresses toward thefurnace to pre-heat the same, and separately feeding the :arbonaceousmaterial into the furnace.

3. The process of manufacturing phosphoric acid which consists in'heating together in a furnace phosphatic.material, a flux and acarbonaceous material to drive off phosphorus gas and carbon monoxidgas. feet ing and conducting a stream of the phosphatic material and theflux toward the furnace. passing said phosphorus gas through saidstream'and admitting air to said stream to effect a further oxidation ofthe phosphorus and the carbon monoxid while passing in said stream, andthereby pie-heating the material in said stream.

4. The process'of manufacturing phosphoric acid which consists inheating together in a furnace phosphatic material, a silicious flux anda carbonaceous material to produce phosphorus gas and carbon monoxid,leading said phosphorus gas and said monoxid in a current from thefurnace, feeding and conducting a stream of. the phosphatic material andthe flux in a divided condition toward the furnace, revolving the saidstream to effect its gradual progress toward the furnace, andintroducing oxygen into said stream to oxidize the phosphorus tophosphorus pentoxid, and to oxidize therarbon monoxid to carbondioxid-within the stream, and thereby pre-heating the materialn in thestream before it passes into the furnace.

5. The process of manufacturing phosphoric acid which consists inheating together ina furnace phosphatic material, a silicious flux and acarbonaceous material to produce phosphorus gas and carbon m.on oxid,leading said phosphorus gas and said monoxid in a current from thefurnace, feed ing and conducting a stream of the phos phatic materialand the flux through said current toward the furnace, revolving the saidstream to effect its gradual progress toward the furnace, andintroducing oxygen into said stream to oxidize the phosphorus tophosphorus pentoxid, and to oxidize the carbon monoxid to carbon dioxidWithin the stream, and thereby preheating the column before it passesinto the furnace, and feeding a carbonaceous material into the furnace.1

6. In an apparatus for producing phos phoric acid, in combination,afurnace for heating together a phosphatic material, a

'flux and a carbonaceous material, a duct through which gases'from thefurnace pass, means for feeding the phosphatic material and the flux tothe furnace through said duct, said furnace having an inlet opening foradmitting said carbonaceous material to the furnace hearth withoutpassing the same through said duct.

7. In an apparatus for producing phosphoric acid, in combination, afurnace for heating together phosphatic material, a flux and acarbonaceous material to form phosphorusgas and carbon monoxid gas, aduct for conducting the phosphatic material and the flux into thefurnace andthrough which the said gases-pass, said duct constitutingmeans for effecting the oxidation of said phosphorus and said carbonmonoxidwithin said duct and thereby preheat the material in said duct asit passes to'said furnace.

8'. In anvapparatus for producing phosphoric acid, in combination, afurnace for heating together phosphatic material, a flux and acarbonaceous material to .form phosphorus gas and carbon monoxid gas, aduct for conducting the phosphatic material and the flux into thefurnace and through'which the said gases pass, said duct constitutingmeans for effecting the oxidation of said phosphorus and said carbonmonoxid within said duct and thereby pre-heat the material in said ductas it passes to said furnace, and means for rotating said duct toproduce a thorough heating and mixture of the contents of said duct. 1

In an apparatus for producing phosphoricacid, in combination, a furnacefor heating together phosphat-ic material, a flux and a carbonaceousmaterial to form phosphorus gas and carbon monoxid a duct for conductingthe phosphatic material and the flux into the furnace and through whichthe said gases pass, said duct constituting means for effectingthe'oxidation of said phosphorus and said carbon monoxid within saidduct and thereby pre-heat the material in said duct as it passes to saidfurnace, and means for admitting oxygen to said duct to effect theoxidation of said phosphorus gas and said carbon monoxid within saidduct to pre-heat the material in said'duct, and means for rotating saidduct to produce a thorough heating andanixture of thecontents thereof.

10. In an apparatus for producing phosphoric acid, a furnace for heatingtogether phosphatic material, a flux, and a carbonaceous material, andthereby driving ofi' oxidizable gases including phosphorus, means forholding a mass of the flux and the phosphatic material in a finelydivided state and arranged so that the said oxidizable gases pass fromthe'furnace through said mass,

means for admitting air to effect the oxidation of the oxidizable gaseswhile passing through said mass, and a filter arranged to receive theoxidized gases to remove the particles of dust carried thereby.

11. The process of manufacturing phosphoric acid which consists inheating together in a furnace phosphatic material, a

flux, and a carbonaceous material todrive off oxidizable gases includingphosphorus, preparing a charge for the furnace exclusive of thecarbonaceous material, passing the gases from said furnace through saidcharge and thereby effecting the oxidation of the phosphorus in thegases as they pass through said charge to pre-heat the charge before itenters the furnace, and feeding carbonaceous material into the furnace.

12. The process of manufacturing phosphorlc acid which consists inheating together 1n a furnace phosphatic material, a flux, and acarbonaceous material to drive off oxidizable gases includingphosphorus, preparing acharge for the furnace exclusive of thecarbonaceous material, passing the gases from said furnace through saidcharge and effecting the oxidation of the a phosphorus in the gases asthey pass through said charge to preheat the charge before it enters thefurnace, agitating the charge while the gases are passing through thesame, and feedingcarbonaceous material into the furnace.

18. The process of manufacturing phosphoric acid which consists 1nheating togetherin a furnace phosphatic material, a

enters the furnace, and feeding carbonaceous I material into thefurnace.

14:. The process of manufacturing phosphoric acid which consists inheating together in a furnace phosphatic material, a flux and acarbonaceous material to drive off oxidizable gases includingphosphorus, preparing a charge for the furnace including the flux andthe phosphatic material, passing the gases from said furnace through ofioxidizable gases including phosphorus,

preparing a charge for the furnace including the flux and the phosphaticmaterial in a finely divided state, passing the gases from said furnacethrough said charge, admitting oxygen to effect the oxidation of thephosphorus gases as they pass through said charge to preheat the chargebefore it enters the furnace, filtering the dust from the gases afterthey pass from the charge, and feeding carbonaceous material into thefurnace.

In testimony whereof I hay 1e hereunto set my hand in presence of twosubscribing Witnesses.

INGENUIN HEGHENBLEIKNER- lVitnesses: V. H. MARTIN, Jr., '13. Q.MARSHALL.

